As Regional Adoption Grows, Bitcoin Leads the Way for Colombia

According to a July 2019 survey conducted by Paxful, a peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange serving Latin America, more than 86 percent of Colombians surveyed indicated familiarity with cryptocurrency, and bitcoin is leading the way.

According to Paxful data shared with Bitcoin Magazine, the online public survey garnered 1,011 total participants. Of these, 94 percent were between the ages of 18 and 54. Participants skewed 62 percent female. It was conducted with support from Toluna Insights.

More than 79 percent of the respondents indicated that they were familiar with bitcoin, while privacy-focused bytecoin came in second place with less than 4 percent of respondents indicating familiarity. Only 6.43 percent of respondents said that they had invested in cryptocurrency in the past, but more than 80 percent signaled that they were open to doing so.

All told, the survey results paint a picture of increasing willingness by Colombians to adopt cryptocurrency, with a clear bent toward bitcoin.

A Bitcoin Adoption Hotbed in Colombia

“One major highlight from the survey is that 91 percent of respondents agreed with the notion that digital currencies will mark the future of world trade,” Ray Youssef, the CEO and founder of Paxful, said. “This served as a greater indicator of what the future of cryptocurrencies could look like for Colombia.”

Paxful’s bullish survey results are not the only indicator that Colombia is becoming a hotbed for bitcoin adoption. In May 2019, the country’s weekly LocalBitcoins trading volume reached its all-time high of more than 10.6 billion Colombian pesos, according to Coin Dance. Ever since, the figure has hovered well above the 6 billion peso mark.

“We have seen an interesting increase of over 70 percent in trades compared to the previous year of 2018,” Youssef explained. “These numbers also corroborate the results that this study shows us — that bitcoin use is on the rise.”

As the next-door neighbor of Venezuela, a country whose fiat currency is failing and whose own bitcoin adoption has exploded, it’s possible that Colombians’ relatively open attitude toward the original cryptocurrency has been influenced by regional factors. Whatever the root cause, it’s clear that the region is outpacing the rest of the world.

An April 2019 survey conducted by bitFlyer, for instance, found that only 49 percent of European respondents indicated a belief that bitcoin will exist in 10 years’ time. Another April 2019 survey conducted on behalf of Blockchain Capital found that only 60 percent of surveyed Americans aged 18 to 34 years and 50 percent of those aged 35 to 44 years were somewhat familiar with bitcoin.

“Colombia is currently experiencing a crucial moment in the crypto industry,” Youssef said. “Curiosity turns into adoption as more and more people find this type of currency to be an interesting and productive way to exchange their money and that is what is currently happening in Colombia.”